Anthem Takes Another Knock As Lead Producer Exits BioWare

Anthem's had a rough go of it since the game launched in February. The endgame content wasn't up to snuff. Repeated delays kept players separated from much-needed updates. Now the game is losing its lead producer at a time when players are really wondering if Anthem has any gas left in the tank.

"After 8 amazing years at BioWare I have made the decision to move on and have accepted an exciting opportunity at another gaming company," tweeted Ben Irving, who also served as lead producer on Star Wars: The Old Republic. Irving later added, "I believe Anthem has a bright future – there is a great team working on it and I look forward to following its progress (and playing it!) from the sidelines."

It's wonderful that Irving is optimistic about where Anthem is headed, but it's clear that feeling is not shared by many of the game's fans.

"Dear ladies and gentlemen... We are witnessing the last nail in the coffin," said the author of one post on Reddit. Another simply stated, "Oof."

Others, however, are convinced that Irving was somehow responsible for Anthem releasing as it did.

"I don't know Ben," said one user. "He may be a great guy in person. However, I was not a fan of his work on SWOTR, and Anthem's launch state was objectively bad. This does not appear to be bad news."

Any way you slice it, it's never great to see a game lose its lead producer; especially a live-service game that lives or dies based on the content it adds. Someone else will have to fill that role now, and judging by the way Anthem's Cataclysm event was received — "there's little to get excited about," according to Kotaku – that person is going to have a lot of baggage to overcome.

We'll update you once we have news on who will pick up the torch at BioWare.